Summary
This article explains how you can use a Microsoft provided sample script to increase the size of a recovery partition to enable servicing of Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). WinRE is a tool that helps you troubleshoot and recover from various system issues, such as startup failures, malware infections, or corrupted system files.
WinRE requires enough free space on the recovery partition to allow WinRE updates to be installed successfully. However, some devices may have small recovery partitions that do not have adequate space. The sample script can help you resize a devices recovery partition to avoid potential WinRE servicing failures.
How to use this script to increase your WinRE partition size by 250 MB
################################################################################################
#
# Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation.
# Licensed under the MIT License.
#
# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED *AS IS*, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
# IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
# FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
# AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
# LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
# OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
# SOFTWARE.
#
################################################################################################
Param (
[Parameter(Mandatory=$false,HelpMessage="Skip confirmation")][bool]$SkipConfirmation=$false,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true,HelpMessage="Path to backup old WinRE partition content to")][string]$BackupFolder
)
# ------------------------------------
# Helper functions
# ------------------------------------
# Log message
function LogMessage([string]$message)
{
$message = "$message"
Write-Host $message
}
# Extract numbers from string
function ExtractNumbers([string]$str)
{
$cleanString = $str -replace "[^0-9]"
return [long]$cleanString
}
# Display partition info using fsutil
# Return an array, the first value is total size and the second value is free space
function DisplayPartitionInfo([string[]]$partitionPath)
{
$volume = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Volume | Where-Object { $partitionPath -contains $_.DeviceID }
LogMessage(" Partition capacity: " + $volume.Capacity)
LogMessage(" Partition free space: " + $volume.FreeSpace)
return $volume.Capacity, $volume.FreeSpace
}
# Display WinRE status
function DisplayWinREStatus()
{
# Get WinRE partition info
$WinREInfo = Reagentc /info
foreach ($line in $WinREInfo)
{
$params = $line.Split(':')
if ($params.Count -lt 2)
{
continue
}
if (($params[1].Trim() -ieq "Enabled") -Or (($params[1].Trim() -ieq "Disabled")))
{
$Status = $params[1].Trim() -ieq "Enabled"
LogMessage($line.Trim())
}
if ($params[1].Trim() -like "\\?\GLOBALROOT*")
{
$Location = $params[1].Trim()
LogMessage($line.Trim())
}
}
return $Status, $Location
}
# ------------------------------------
# Main execution
# ------------------------------------
# Clear the error
$Error.Clear()
# ------------------------------------
# Examining the system to collect required info
# for the execution
# Need to check WinRE status, collect OS and WinRE
# partition info
# ------------------------------------
LogMessage("Start time: $([DateTime]::Now)")
LogMessage("Examining the system...")
$NeedShrink = $true
$NeedCreateNew = $false
$NeedBackup = $false
# Get WinRE partition info
$InitialWinREStatus = DisplayWinREStatus
$WinREStatus = $InitialWinREStatus[0]
$WinRELocation = $InitialWinREStatus[1]
if (!$WinREStatus)
{
LogMessage("Error: WinRE Disabled")
exit 1
}
# Get System directory and ReAgent xml file
$system32Path = [System.Environment]::SystemDirectory
LogMessage("System directory: " + $system32Path)
$ReAgentXmlPath = Join-Path -Path $system32Path -ChildPath "\Recovery\ReAgent.xml"
LogMessage("ReAgent xml: " + $ReAgentXmlPath)
if (!(Test-Path $ReAgentXmlPath))
{
LogMessage("Error: ReAgent.xml cannot be found")
exit 1
}
# Get OS partition
LogMessage("")
LogMessage("Collecting OS and WinRE partition info...")
$OSDrive = $system32Path.Substring(0,1)
$OSPartition = Get-Partition -DriveLetter $OSDrive
# Get WinRE partition
$WinRELocationItems = $WinRELocation.Split('\\')
foreach ($item in $WinRELocationItems)
{
if ($item -like "harddisk*")
{
$OSDiskIndex = ExtractNumbers($item)
}
if ($item -like "partition*")
{
$WinREPartitionIndex = ExtractNumbers($item)
}
}
LogMessage("OS Disk: " + $OSDiskIndex)
LogMessage("OS Partition: " + $OSPartition.PartitionNumber)
LogMessage("WinRE Partition: " + $WinREPartitionIndex)
$WinREPartition = Get-Partition -DiskNumber $OSDiskIndex -PartitionNumber $WinREPartitionIndex
$diskInfo = Get-Disk -number $OSDiskIndex
$diskType = $diskInfo.PartitionStyle
LogMessage("Disk PartitionStyle: " + $diskType)
# Display WinRE partition size info
LogMessage("WinRE partition size info")
$WinREPartitionSizeInfo = DisplayPartitionInfo($WinREPartition.AccessPaths)
LogMessage("WinRE Partition Offset: " + $WinREPartition.Offset)
LogMessage("WinRE Partition Type: " + $WinREPartition.Type)
LogMessage("OS partition size: " + $OSPartition.Size)
LogMessage("OS partition Offset: " + $OSPartition.Offset)
$OSPartitionEnds = $OSPartition.Offset + $OSPartition.Size
LogMessage("OS partition ends at: " + $OSPartitionEnds)
LogMessage("WinRE partition starts at: " + $WinREPartition.Offset)
$WinREIsOnSystemPartition = $false
if ($diskType -ieq "MBR")
{
if ($WinREPartition.IsActive)
{
LogMessage("WinRE is on System partition")
$WinREIsOnSystemPartition = $true
}
}
if ($diskType -ieq "GPT")
{
if ($WinREPartition.Type -ieq "System")
{
LogMessage("WinRE is on System partition")
$WinREIsOnSystemPartition = $true
}
}
# Checking the BackupFolder parameter
if ($PSBoundParameters.ContainsKey('BackupFolder'))
{
LogMessage("")
LogMessage("Backup Directory: [" + $BackupFolder + "]")
$Needbackup = $true
if ($WinREIsOnSystemPartition)
{
$Needbackup = $false
LogMessage("WinRE is on System partition which will be preserved. No need to backup content")
}
else
{
if (Test-path $BackupFolder)
{
$items = Get-ChildItem -Path $BackupFolder
if ($items)
{
LogMessage("Error: Existing backup directory is not empty")
exit 1
}
}
else
{
LogMessage("Creating backup directory...")
try
{
$item = New-Item -Path $BackupFolder -ItemType Directory -ErrorAction Stop
if ($item)
{
LogMessage("Backup directory created")
}
else
{
LogMessage("Error: Failed to create backup directory [" + $BackupFolder + "]")
exit 1
}
} catch
{
LogMessage("Error: An error occurred: $_")
exit 1
}
}
}
}
# ------------------------------------
# Verify whether we meet requirements of execution
# - WinRE cannot be on OS partition for the extension
# - WinRE partition must be the next partition after OS partition
# - If WinRE partition already have >=250MB free space, no need to do repartition
# - If there is enough unallocated space to grow the WinRE partition size, skip shrinking OS
#
# However, if the WinRE partition is before the OS partition, there is no chance to extend it
# As a result, it's better to create a new WinRE partition after the OS partition
# ------------------------------------
# Perform a few checks
LogMessage("")
LogMessage("Verifying if the WinRE partition needs to be extended or not...")
if (!(($diskType -ieq "MBR") -Or ($diskType -ieq "GPT")))
{
LogMessage("Error: Got an unexpected disk partition style: " +$diskType)
exit 1
}
# WinRE partition must be after OS partition for the repartition
if ($WinREPartitionIndex -eq $OSPartition.PartitionNumber)
{
LogMessage("WinRE and OS are on the same partition, should not perform extension")
exit 0
}
$supportedSize = Get-PartitionSupportedSize -DriveLetter $OSDrive
# if there is enough free space, skip extension
if ($WinREPartitionSizeInfo[1] -ge 250MB)
{
LogMessage("More than 250 MB of free space was detected in the WinRE partition, there is no need to extend the partition")
exit 0
}
if ($WinREPartition.Offset -lt $OSPartitionEnds)
{
LogMessage("WinRE partition is not after OS partition, cannot perform extension")
LogMessage("Need to create a new WinRE partition after OS partition")
$NeedCreateNew = $true
$NeedShrink = $true
# Calculate the size of repartition
# Will create a new WinRE partition with current WinRE partition size + 250 MB
# The OS partition size will be shrunk by the new WinRE partition size
$targetWinREPartitionSize = $WinREPartitionSizeInfo[0] + 250MB
$shrinkSize = [Math]::Ceiling($targetWinREPartitionSize / 1MB) * 1MB
$targetOSPartitionSize = $OSPartition.Size - $shrinkSize
if ($targetOSPartitionSize -lt $supportedSize.SizeMin)
{
LogMessage("Error: The target OS partition size after shrinking is smaller than the supported minimum size, cannot perform the repartition")
exit 1
}
}
else
{
if ($WinREIsOnSystemPartition)
{
LogMessage("WinRE parititon is after the OS partition and it's also System partition")
LogMessage("Error: Got unexpected disk layout, cannot proceed")
exit 1
}
if (!($WinREPartitionIndex -eq ($OSPartition.PartitionNumber + 1)))
{
LogMessage("Error: WinRE partition is not right after the OS partition, cannot extend WinRE partition")
exit 1
}
# Calculate the size of repartition
# Will shrink OS partitition by 250 MB
$shrinkSize = 250MB
$targetOSPartitionSize = $OSPartition.Size - $shrinkSize
$targetWinREPartitionSize = $WinREPartitionSizeInfo[0] + 250MB
$UnallocatedSpace = $WinREPartition.Offset - $OSPartitionEnds;
# If there is unallocated space, consider using it
if ($UnallocatedSpace -ge 250MB)
{
$UnallocatedSpace = $WinREPartition.Offset - $OSPartitionEnds;
LogMessage("Found unallocated space between OS and WinRE partition: " + $UnallocatedSpace)
LogMessage("There is already enough space to extend WinRE partition without shrinking the OS partition")
$NeedShrink = $false
$targetOSPartitionSize = 0
}
else
{
$shrinkSize = [Math]::Ceiling((250MB - $UnallocatedSpace)/ 1MB) * 1MB
if ($shrinkSize > 250MB)
{
$shrinkSize = 250MB
}
$targetOSPartitionSize = $OSPartition.Size - $shrinkSize
if ($targetOSPartitionSize -lt $supportedSize.SizeMin)
{
LogMessage("Error: The target OS partition size after shrinking is smaller than the supported minimum size, cannot perform the repartition")
exit 1
}
}
}
# ------------------------------------
# Report execution plan and ask for user confirmation to continue
# ------------------------------------
# Report the changes planned to be executed, waiting for user confirmation
LogMessage("")
LogMessage("Summary of proposed changes")
if ($NeedCreateNew)
{
LogMessage("Note: WinRE partition is before OS partition, need to create a new WinRE partition after OS partition")
LogMessage("Will shrink OS partition by " + $shrinkSize)
LogMessage(" Current OS partition size: " + $OSPartition.Size)
LogMessage(" Target OS partition size after shrinking: " + $targetOSPartitionSize)
LogMessage("New WinRE partition will be created with size: ", $targetWinREPartitionSize)
if ($WinREIsOnSystemPartition)
{
LogMessage("Existing WinRE partition is also system partition, it will be preserved")
}
else
{
LogMessage("Existing WinRE partition will be deleted")
LogMessage(" WinRE partition: Disk [" + $OSDiskIndex + "] Partition [" + $WinREPartitionIndex + "]")
LogMessage(" Current WinRE partition size: " + $WinREPartitionSizeInfo[0])
}
}
else
{
if ($NeedShrink)
{
LogMessage("Will shrink OS partition by " + $shrinkSize)
LogMessage(" Current OS partition size: " + $OSPartition.Size)
LogMessage(" Target OS partition size after shrinking: " + $targetOSPartitionSize)
if ($UnallocatedSpace -ge 0)
{
LogMessage("Unallocated space between OS and WinRE partition that will be used towards the new WinRE partition: " + $UnallocatedSpace)
}
}
else
{
LogMessage("Will use 250MB from unallocated space between OS and WinRE partition")
}
LogMessage("Will extend WinRE partition size by 250MB")
LogMessage(" WinRE partition: Disk [" + $OSDiskIndex + "] Partition [" + $WinREPartitionIndex + "]")
LogMessage(" Current WinRE partition size: " + $WinREPartitionSizeInfo[0])
LogMessage(" New WinRE partition size: " + $targetWinREPartitionSize)
LogMessage("WinRE will be temporarily disabled before extending the WinRE partition and enabled automatically in the end")
if ($UnallocatedSpace -ge 100MB)
{
LogMessage("Warning: More than 100MB of unallocated space was detected between the OS and WinRE partitions")
LogMessage("Would you like to proceed by using the unallocated space between the OS and the WinRE partitions?")
}
}
if ($Needbackup)
{
LogMessage("")
LogMessage("The contents of the old WinRE partition will be backed up to [" + $BackupFolder + "]")
}
LogMessage("")
LogMessage("Please reboot the device before running this script to ensure any pending partition actions are finalized")
LogMessage("")
if ($SkipConfirmation)
{
LogMessage("User chose to skip confirmation")
LogMessage("Proceeding with changes...")
}
else
{
$userInput = Read-Host -Prompt "Would you like to proceed? Y for Yes and N for No"
if ($userInput -ieq "Y")
{
LogMessage("Proceeding with changes...")
}
elseif ($userInput -ieq "N")
{
LogMessage("Canceling based on user request, no changes were made to the system")
exit 0
}
else
{
LogMessage("Error: Unexpected user input: [" + $userInput + "]")
exit 0
}
}
LogMessage("")
LogMessage("Note: To prevent unexpected results, please do not interrupt the execution or restart your system")
# ------------------------------------
# Do the actual execution
# The main flow is:
# 1. Check whether ReAgent.xml has stage location and clear it for repartiion
# 2. Disable WinRE as WinRE partition will be deleted
# 3. Perform the repartition to create a larger WinRE partition
# 4. Re-enable WinRE
# ------------------------------------
LogMessage("")
# Load ReAgent.xml to clear Stage location
LogMessage("Loading [" + $ReAgentXmlPath + "] ...")
$xml = [xml](Get-Content -Path $ReAgentXmlPath)
$node = $xml.WindowsRE.ImageLocation
if (($node.path -eq "") -And ($node.guid -eq "{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}") -And ($node.offset -eq "0") -And ($node.id -eq "0"))
{
LogMessage("Stage location info is empty")
}
else
{
LogMessage("Clearing stage location info...")
$node.path = ""
$node.offset = "0"
$node.guid= "{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}"
$node.id="0"
# Save the change
LogMessage("Saving changes to [" + $ReAgentXmlPath + "]...")
$xml.Save($ReAgentXmlPath)
}
# Disable WinRE
LogMessage("Disabling WinRE...")
reagentc /disable
if (!($LASTEXITCODE -eq 0))
{
LogMessage("Warning: encountered an error when disabling WinRE: " + $LASTEXITCODE)
exit $LASTEXITCODE
}
# Verify WinRE is under C:\Windows\System32\Recovery\WinRE.wim
$disableWinREPath = Join-Path -Path $system32Path -ChildPath "\Recovery\WinRE.wim"
LogMessage("Verifying that WinRE wim exists in downlevel at default location")
if (!(Test-Path $disableWinREPath))
{
LogMessage("Error: Cannot find " + $disableWinREPath)
# Re-enable WinRE
LogMessage("Re-enabling WinRE on error...")
reagentc /enable
if (!($LASTEXITCODE -eq 0))
{
LogMessage("Warning: encountered an error when enabling WinRE: " + $LASTEXITCODE)
}
exit 1
}
# ------------------------------------
# Perform the repartition
# 1. Resize the OS partition
# 2. Delete the WinRE partition
# 3. Create a new WinRE partition
# ------------------------------------
LogMessage("Performing repartition to extend the WinRE partition ...")
# 1. Resize the OS partition
if ($NeedShrink)
{
LogMessage("Shrinking the OS partition to create a larger WinRE partition")
LogMessage("Resizing the OS partition to: [" + $targetOSPartitionSize + "]...")
Resize-Partition -DriveLetter $OSDrive -Size $targetOSPartitionSize
if ($Error.Count -gt 0) {
LogMessage("Error: Resize-Partition encountered errors: " + $Error[0].Exception.Message)
# Re-enable WinRE
LogMessage("Re-enabling WinRE on error...")
reagentc /enable
if (!($LASTEXITCODE -eq 0))
{
LogMessage("Warning: encountered an error when enabling WinRE: " + $LASTEXITCODE)
}
exit 1
}
$OSPartitionAfterShrink = Get-Partition -DriveLetter $OSDrive
LogMessage("Target partition size: " + $targetOSPartitionSize)
LogMessage("Size of OS partition after shrinking: " + $OSPartitionAfterShrink.Size)
}
# 2. Delete the WinRE partition
LogMessage("")
if ($WinREIsOnSystemPartition)
{
LogMessage("Existing WinRE partition is System partition, skipping deletion")
}
else
{
# If requested by user, backup rest of the content on WinRE partition to backup directory
if ($Needbackup)
{
$sourcePath = $WinREPartition.AccessPaths[0]
LogMessage("Copying content on WinRE partition from [" + $sourcePath + "] to [" + $BackupFolder + "]...")
# Copy-Item may have access issue with certain system folders, enumerate the children items and exlcude them
$items = Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath $sourcePath -Force
foreach ($item in $items)
{
if ($item.Name -ieq "System Volume Information")
{
continue
}
$sourceItemPath = Join-Path -Path $sourcePath -ChildPath $item.Name
$destItemPath = Join-Path -Path $BackupFolder -ChildPath $item.Name
try
{
LogMessage("Copying [" + $sourceItemPath + "] to [" + $destItemPath + "]...")
Copy-Item -LiteralPath $sourceItemPath -Destination $destItemPath -Recurse -Force
} catch
{
LogMessage("Error: An error occurred during copy: $_")
exit 1
}
}
LogMessage("Backup completed")
LogMessage("")
}
LogMessage("Deleting WinRE partition: Disk [" + $OSDiskIndex + "] Partition [" + $WinREPartitionIndex + "]...")
Remove-Partition -DiskNumber $OSDiskIndex -PartitionNumber $WinREPartitionIndex -Confirm:$false
if ($Error.Count -gt 0) {
LogMessage("Error: Remove-Partition encountered errors: " + $Error[0].Exception.Message)
exit 1
}
}
# A short sleep for the partition change
Sleep 5
# 3. Create a new WinRE partition
LogMessage("")
LogMessage("Creating new WinRE partition...")
LogMessage("Target size: " + $targetWinREPartitionSize)
if ($diskType -ieq "GPT")
{
$partition = New-Partition -DiskNumber $OSDiskIndex -Size $targetWinREPartitionSize -GptType "{de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac}"
$newPartitionIndex = $partition.PartitionNumber
# A short sleep to make sure the partition is ready for formatting
Sleep 2
LogMessage("Formating the partition...")
$result = Format-Volume -Partition $partition -FileSystem NTFS -Confirm:$false
if ($Error.Count -gt 0) {
LogMessage("Error: Format-Volume encountered errors: " + $Error[0].Exception.Message)
exit 1
}
}
else
{
#$partition = New-Partition -DiskNumber $OSDiskIndex -Size $targetWinREPartitionSize -MbrType 0x27
$targetWinREPartitionSizeInMb = [int]($targetWinREPartitionSize/1MB)
$diskpartScript =
@"
select disk $OSDiskIndex
create partition primary size=$targetWinREPartitionSizeInMb id=27
format quick fs=ntfs label="Recovery"
set id=27
"@
$TempPath = $env:Temp
$diskpartSciptFile = Join-Path -Path $TempPath -ChildPath "\ExtendWinRE_MBR_PowershellScript.txt"
LogMessage("Creating temporary diskpart script to create Recovery partition on MBR disk...")
LogMessage("Temporary diskpart script file: " + $diskpartSciptFile)
$diskpartScript | Out-File -FilePath $diskpartSciptFile -Encoding ascii
LogMessage("Executing diskpart script...")
try
{
$diskpartOutput = diskpart /s $diskpartSciptFile
if ($diskpartOutput -match "DiskPart successfully")
{
LogMessage("Diskpart script executed successfully")
}
else
{
LogMessage("Error executing diskpart script:" + $diskpartOutput)
exit 1
}
LogMessage("Deleting temporary diskpart script file...")
Remove-Item $diskpartSciptFile
}
catch
{
LogMessage("Error executing diskpart script: $_")
exit 1
}
$vol = Get-Volume -FileSystemLabel "Recovery"
$newPartitionIndex = (Get-Partition | Where-Object { $_.AccessPaths -contains $vol.Path } ).PartitionNumber
}
if ($Error.Count -gt 0)
{
LogMessage("Error: New-Partition encountered errors: " + $Error[0].Exception.Message)
exit 1
}
LogMessage("New Partition index: " + $newPartitionIndex)
# Re-enable WinRE
LogMessage("Re-enabling WinRE...")
reagentc /enable
if (!($LASTEXITCODE -eq 0))
{
LogMessage("Warning: encountered an error when enabling WinRE: " + $LASTEXITCODE)
exit $LASTEXITCODE
}
# In the end, Display WinRE status to verify WinRE is enabled correctly
LogMessage("")
LogMessage("WinRE Information:")
$FinalWinREStatus = DisplayWinREStatus
$WinREStatus = $FinalWinREStatus[0]
$WinRELocation = $FinalWinREStatus[1]
if (!$WinREStatus)
{
LogMessage("Warning: WinRE Disabled")
}
$WinRELocationItems = $WinRELocation.Split('\\')
foreach ($item in $WinRELocationItems)
{
if ($item -like "partition*")
{
$WinREPartitionIndex = ExtractNumbers($item)
}
}
LogMessage("WinRE Partition Index: " + $WinREPartitionIndex)
$WinREPartition = Get-Partition -DiskNumber $OSDiskIndex -PartitionNumber $WinREPartitionIndex
$WinREPartitionSizeInfoAfter = DisplayPartitionInfo($WinREPartition.AccessPaths)
LogMessage("")
LogMessage("OS Information:")
$OSPartition = Get-Partition -DriveLetter $OSDrive
LogMessage("OS partition size: " + $OSPartition.Size)
LogMessage("OS partition Offset: " + $OSPartition.Offset)
if (!($WinREPartitionIndex -eq $newPartitionIndex))
{
LogMessage("Warning: WinRE is installed to partition [" + $WinREPartitionIndex +"], but the newly created Recovery partition is [" + $newPartitionIndex + "]")
}
LogMessage("End time: $([DateTime]::Now)")
if ($NeedBackup)
{
LogMessage("")
LogMessage("The contents of the old WinRE partition has been backed up to [" + $BackupFolder + "]")
}
LogMessage("")
LogMessage("Successfully completed the operation")
Steps to run the sample script
To run this sample script, follow these steps:
-
Open a text editor. For example, to open Windows Notepad, right-click Start, click Run, type notepad.exe, and then click Ok.
-
Copy and paste the sample script to your open text editor.
-
Save the script file as Powershell_ExtendWinRE_or_CreateNew.ps1 to a location of your choice. For example, save the script file to C:/Documents/WinRE_Script. Note this locations path as you will use this in Step 7.
-
Restart your device. This is critical as there may be pending partition operations staged on your device that will need to be finalized before the script can safely increase the WinRE partition size.
-
After your device restarts, open PowerShell as an Administrator. One way to do this is to right-click Start and then click Terminal (Admin).
-
Type mkdir <path to new backup directory> and then press Enter. For example, type mkdir C:/WinRE_backup, and then press Enter. This will create a backup directory named “WinRE_backup” that the script may use in case of failure to restore the original partition. Note the location of this backup directory.
-
Type Powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File <path to where you saved winre script>. For example, type Powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File C:/Downloads/WinRE_Script.
Notes
-
Assuming the script completes successfully, your device will now have at least 250MB of free space and will be able to install WinRE servicing updates.
-
Delete the backup directory you created in Step 3 as it is no longer needed. For example, delete the C:/WinRE_backup directory.
Issues you may encounter and how to fix them
If you receive this following error message from the script, you do not have enough free space on the device to complete the repartitioning. In this case, follow Microsoft guidance to Free up drive space in Windows. After you have done this, restart your device and run the script again.
Note Some devices may have enough free space on their OS partition, however the drive is too fragmented and the repartition will be unable to run. In this case use this guide to defragment your disk.
This script assumes you have WinRE enabled. If you received this error message,your device does not have an enabled WinRE partition. For certain workloads, device builders may choose not to include a WinRE partition. If your device does not have WinRE partition, then servicing is not needed. If you are having issues with your WinRE partition, please follow the steps in WinRE troubleshooting features.
You may encounter an issue when you try to run this script on a device that has a custom partition layout, where the device has another partition between the operating system (OS) partition and the recovery partition. To resolve this issue, you need to move or delete the partition between the OS partition and the recovery partition, so that the recovery partition has the same index as the OS partition + 1.
For example, if the OS partition is index 2, the recovery partition should be index 3. Be careful not to delete or modify any critical partitions such as the system or boot partition. After you move or delete the partition, you need to restart the device to apply the changes and update the partition indexes. Then, you can run the script again and it should work as expected.
